Lasers have innumerable different applications in modern industry. Lasers are used to directly melt materials and to preheat parts, as well as in a great many different diagnostic and process control applications. Among other things, in the field of welding lasers offer the advantages of precise control over the spatial and temporal delivery of heat energy. One specialized type of laser welding is known as laser cladding, where a laser beam is used to melt a feedstock material in contact with or prior to contacting a part to be clad. In some instances the feedstock material is supplied in the form of a sprayed or pre-placed powder or the like, and in others in the form of a wire.
Cladding of certain parts has long been recognized as a strategy for improving the performance and/or service life of all or certain areas of a part, and laser cladding techniques can provide for great process efficiency in many instances. Certain machine components are well known to benefit from the application of a relatively hard or otherwise fatigue or damage resistant cladding upon a softer base material of the component. Laser apparatus tends to be relatively expensive, however, and the application of laser cladding techniques appears far from reaching its full theoretical potential. Ample room for improvement upon known techniques as to laser configuration and operation, as well as expansion of laser cladding technology to new applications thus exists. A laser clad track bushing and process is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,664 to Anderton et al.